Space
by SoulOfAFangirl684
Summary: "It's kind of contradictory, isn't it? Trying to learn about social interaction alone?" Shameless SaixIno fluff.


**Damn. I was getting so good about updating Responsible Adults… and then all these other ideas hit me. Those conniving little plot bunnies… I've got a ChojixKarui piece planned as well… And I've got to put up that last chapter to my Tenten story… Let's just get this one out of the way.**

 **I know it kind of came out of nowhere, but I always kind of liked that Sai ended up with Ino. This little fic draws on that and my general disappointment that they didn't do more with Sai's character. I felt like his introduction was basically, "Hey, this guy's gonna replace Sasuke! Eh, never mind…" Coupled with my exasperation that, even after they accept him as a friend, neither Naruto nor Sakura really steps up to actually help him figure out emotions and social cues. He's so adorably earnest, and they kind of just smack him around whenever he messes something up… All right, this rant is long enough.**

 **Space**

Ino Yamanaka was out of her element. All of her friends seemed to be finding love… How was it that she, the perpetual romantic, was still alone?

Granted, it was a little hard to see in the chaos of the post-war clean-up, but Ino had always had an eye for such things. Shikamaru and Temari were the most obvious. She'd had her suspicions about those two for _years_. More surprising was Choji, who'd recently gotten eyes for a feisty Cloud kunoichi who was unabashedly eying him right back. It was only a matter of time before Naruto truly came to understand what Hinata meant to him, a matter much simplified by the… understanding Sakura had recently come to with Sasuke.

There was a part of Ino that was still astounded by this revelation, though Sakura was only quietly proud about it. They had long since outgrown the days when it had been more about beating each other than the actual boy himself. Even so, Ino did not feel the loss of Sasuke quite as keenly as she'd expected to. She'd just lost a decade-long competition, and she didn't even feel disappointed. It was a rather strange feeling for someone as ambitious and competitive as Ino.

Of course, it could always be that one loss was simply being overshadowed by the grief for another. Team Ten was handling the deaths of Shikaku and Inoichi with as much grace as they could. In that sense, she supposed it was a good thing there was so much to do to get the village—hell, the whole _world_ —back on its feet. There wasn't much time to focus on the crippling grief to be felt in their absence.

Their own flower shop had been rebuilt in record time, expanding a bit, redesigning the front so that large glass windows allowed customers to view their future purchases from the outside. It was an excellent business venture on her mother's part. And it allowed her to get straight back to work, salvaging and hastily growing what she could.

Ino knew this was how her mother was managing it. The shop had been busier than ever since the war's end. There were plenty of graves in need of flowers these days.

But things had been unusually slow today. Ino had finally been able to convince her mother to take some time for herself, go visit her husband's grave. (She refused to start thinking of him as her _ex_ -husband. So much had already been taken from her mother. 'Til death do us part' had begun to seem very cruel indeed.)

And so Ino had ended up slumped behind the counter, minding an empty store, as she had done so often in her youth. The surprising lack of business left her with more time to think than she would have preferred.

Ino was broken out of her musings when a familiar figure passed by outside. She straightened up, and the movement caught his attention. Sai. He was still an enigma to her. Sai was a strange boy… Attractive, but strange. Sakura had told her a bit of his backstory. How he'd been trained—brainwashed, really—into repressing his emotions, his sense of self, so completely that little more than a mindless puppet was left behind. And then he'd met Naruto and been inexplicably moved by him. Naruto had that effect on people. And Sai had been trying to… find himself ever since.

She made an effort to smile at him, and he smiled back. That same bland smile he always wore. But something was different about his eyes today. There was trouble there that she recognized, though she'd never seen it in Sai's face. Grief. So even he had been forever changed by this horrid war in some way. She waved at him, and he turned to enter the shop.

"Hey, Sai," she greeted. "Slow day?"

"Yes," he answered. "By general consensus, we all decided on a day of rest."

"Good." She was surprised at herself by the sudden wave of fondness that swept over her. She knew Sai was a capable shinobi, but right now he just looked subdued and lost. She hurried to cover her moment of contemplation with chatter. "Makes me feel better about skipping out on you guys to cover for my mom here."

"You don't seem to have any customers," he pointed out in his blunt, guileless way.

She knew he meant no harm by it, but it was in her nature to bite back upon every perceived insult. So her next words cut straight to the chase in a tone of slightly exaggerated kindness that he would not detect. "Sai, is everything all right?"

He tilted his head ever so slightly, his eyes a little more intense. She wondered if she'd surprised him. He was always so forthcoming with his thoughts and observations. How often did any of them actually ask after his wellbeing?

"Everything?" he repeated dully.

" _You_ ," she clarified quickly. "Are you all right?"

His smile never wavered. "I don't know. I've been feeling something lately… I believe it's confusion."

She took a moment to contemplate what it would be like to feel something and have to match it up to some scientific definition just to identify it. Emotions were so primal… She couldn't truly comprehend what it must be like to live inside Sai's head.

"Emotions are very complex," he supplied when she was silent. "Seeing my brother again made me realize that. I thought I was making progress, but now I'm not sure I understand anything at all."

He looked so lost… and sad, though he probably didn't realize it. In that split second, Ino made a decision. Sai leaned back on reflex, almost imperceptibly, as she strode out from behind the counter. He didn't comment as she crossed the room and locked the front door, flipping their sign to 'Closed.' Then she turned back to Sai, whose expression was carefully blank once more.

"Come with me," she requested, and he followed her up the stairs without question, although he'd been trained too well not to be just a _little_ suspicious. Ino tried to ignore the way his eyes quickly took stock of his surroundings—potential threats, escape routes—as she led him into the master bedroom.

"This is my parents' bedroom. Or, it would have been… My mom seemed to forget when they were designing the house that my dad wouldn't be coming home to share it with her…"

And as a result, it was much larger than it needed to be. Half of the room was meticulously well-kept. Like it hadn't been lived in at all. And it hadn't. Old habits died hard, bitter deaths, she supposed. Her mother had not yet been able to take up the space that should have been occupied by her father.

Sai didn't apologize for her loss, likely because he didn't know this was the socially acceptable way to react. Ino decided she liked that. Instead, Sai said, "This room is very empty."

"Yeah," Ino sighed. "One person just doesn't fill a room like two. But let's get down to business."

She did her best to shove down the melancholy and smile brightly at him. Sai's best effort was to look politely interested. "Business?"

"I'm going to help you learn about emotions," she said confidently. "And I figured this would be a good place to do it. This room… It's so full of love. Love is the most powerful emotion there is."

"Oh?" His smile was still blank, but his eyes were intense again. She'd gotten his attention.

"I think all you need is the right teacher. Sometimes your own research can only get you so far. It's kind of contradictory, isn't it? Trying to learn about social interaction alone?"

His eyes were locked on her face. She thought he looked pleased, maybe a little eager. Or maybe that's just what she wanted to see. "You'll be my teacher?"

"Let's have our first lesson right now. Don't move, okay?" She took one step closer, then another. "There's this… debate amongst psychologists… about what causes emotions and emotional reactions."

They were now standing so close together their toes were touching. Sai followed her instructions, remaining very still. Only his eyes moved, staying locked on hers as she came closer. She wondered if he was really as unaffected as he seemed. She had to concentrate very hard to keep her voice steady.

"There's this debate," she said again, trying to tell herself that she was doing this for innocent, selfless reasons, "about whether the physical reaction is a response to the emotion or the emotion is caused by the physical reflex. Like blushing. Do people blush _because_ they're embarrassed, or do they only start to _feel_ embarrassed once the body sends blood rushing to the face for whatever reason?"

There was no evidence of a blush on Sai's pale face. Ino figured this example was a good safeguard in case her own face was betraying her. She worked to keep her breathing relatively shallow. Even the smallest movements could seem intrusive when there was so little space between them.

An hour ago, this 'debate' had just seemed like a fascinating study. Now it seemed to hold a little more weight. What was emotional and what was physical? Were they so closely intertwined that there wasn't much difference? She was very warm. Sai had tilted his head to the side. Her nose was nearly touching his cheek.

Ino did her best not to think too much, just to feel. There was a tingle spreading from her stomach to her limbs. A thrill she hadn't felt since childhood, running off to avoid getting caught leaving a love letter on Sasuke's desk. Slowly, she brought up a hand to intertwine it with Sai's—just the fingertips, but she thought she saw a burst of something warm in his gaze now. Ino was certain Sai had to be feeling something now, even as still as he was. How could he not, when she was so hyperaware of everything he did?

"I'm not sure I understand the lesson, Beautiful." Sai was still speaking at a normal volume, his words crystal clear in her ears, his breath warm on her lips. He had leaned even closer in his curiosity so that there was literally no margin for error on her part. Even so… it was so hard not to jump at the use of the old nickname he'd bestowed upon her more than a year ago now.

"Well," she replied softly, her voice shaking a little before she could stop it, "that's kind of the point, Sai. Emotions aren't something that can be properly explained by some scientific journal or self-help book. They're _too_ complex. They have to be experienced firsthand. Understand?"

She swore she could feel it on her own face when his smile widened ever so slightly. Was she imagining something deeper in his expression? Or was Sai truly feeling something from their closeness? She didn't think he could possibly be as affected as she was. Even so… Perhaps this little 'exercise' would do him some good after all…

"Hey, Ino! You in there?!" Choji's shout cut through the moment they were having with all the grace and subtlety of an elephant falling over.

The effect was immediate. Sai, of course, did not move. Only his eyebrows shot up. Ino jumped away, nearly clearing the length of the room. She peeked out the window and saw both Choji and Shikamaru were waiting on the street down below. She cursed them silently. What uncanny timing.

She turned back to Sai who seemed wholly unbothered by the interruption. He smiled at her again.

"That was very insightful for me. Thank you. Will we be having more lessons, Beautiful?"

Her heart fluttered. What had started as an impulse born of tedium and curiosity had rapidly blossomed into something dear to her. She wasn't even sure what the end goal was, honestly. All she knew was that she wanted to see Sai smile again. She wanted to spend time with this strange boy. Enough time until she learned the meaning behind each and every nuance in his expression. She determined to unravel the mystery that was Sai.

She wondered if Sai could see the extra warmth in her eyes when she smiled at him again. "Yes. I'd like that."

 **Review please!**

 **I don't own Naruto.**

 **I don't know if I'm wholly satisfied with this one… I want to do something more exploring Sai and Ino's relationship sometime in the future… I feel like all I've found for fics addressing the subject are centered around either Sai becoming a father or just straight-up smut. Not to say those can't be done well… But I feel like we need more exploring what brought them together in the first place.**


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